Eric Schmidt on innovation
July 3rd, 2009Here’s an exchange between Eric Schmidt and Jeff Jarvis from this week’s Aspen Ideas Festival, posted on Eric Reasons’ blog. Take a moment to watch.
More from Eric:
Moreover, if my previous assertions are anywhere near correct, is this desirable from an economic standpoint for the U.S., given our current policies? I asked if there any real money to made in a “knowledge economy” in the long run:
Because as businesses whose product is reliant on intellectual property shrink due to Internet-based efficiencies, consumers are reaping the rewards of these efficiencies. Fewer people are employed by this sector, but fewer consumers are having to pay for products previously only produced by this sector.
To quote Jeff Jarvis from a different post:
Craigslist is blamed for destroying (that’s from the publishers’ perspective) $100 billion in classified ad value, replacing it with its reported $100 million revenue.
If we outsource mass production–the parts of our economy that are actually governed by the laws of supply and demand (scarcity)–and shift it towards a knowledge economy headed for deflation (abundance), what’s left?


